The Big Easy and the Catholic vote in the GOP race

March 27, 2012

SMU Political Science Professor Matthew Wilson, an expert on politics and religion, was a guest on the Melissa Harris-Perry weekend news and opinion television show on MSNBC on March 24, 2012, the day of the Louisiana GOP primary.

Also taking part in the discussion on how the largely Catholic constituency in Louisiana would vote were former Louisiana Gov. Buddy Roemer and Mother Jones' Adam Serwer.

"We have to remember that Catholics are America's largest religious group," said Wilson, a Lousiana native and recognized authority on religion and politics. "This is 25 percent of the U.S. population, so within a group that large there is going to be considerable diversity. One of the things that often gets overlooked in the exit poll results is consistently there is a major differnce between observant Catholics and more nominal Catholics in their voting patterns. An exit poll does not ask finely honed enough questions to pick that up, but that is always a factor."